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Federal Reserve Open Market Operations
The Fed's Open Market Operations desk performed 1 repurchase operation.
- a $8.75billion, overnight repurchase with $6.983billion in T-backed collateral .
With that amount of repo grease, 10 a.m. ought to have been the time to get long; as it turned out, doing so would only have garnered a maximum of 3 points, all of which was given back before the close. That should give folks something to ruminate on; with all that repo, with "good news" from Qualcomm sending techs flying, the S&P couldn't get any real traction. In other words, this market has got itself to a stage where "investors" are behaving like Pavlov's Dogs again... without much real effect.
Major US Indices
The Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 3.69 points (0.03%), closing out the day at 10936.86 points. The index hit an intraday high of 10984.46, and fell as low as 10931.6 during the session.
The poor nuffies who bought the "breakout" of the first-hour high were obviously hoping for 11,000 - and visions of massive stop-driven short-squeezes above 11k danced in their heads. The first-hour breakout is a standard breakout pivot for inexperienced intraday traders and seasoned 'vets" alike - but the seasoned traders only used it in conjunction with intraday readings on breadth and momentum... and there was nothing on either front to give the breakout legs, so only dumbasses took it. Once the Nasdaq Comp ran into a wall at 2100, all bets should have been off.
Within the blue-chip index, 17 stocks rose, the biggest gainers being Intel (INTC, +1.74% to $25.11) and Hewlett Packard (HPQ, +1.51% to $20.87), which accounted for 5 Dow points between them. Losers in the Dow numbered 12 and were led by Alcoa (AA, -1.42% to $31.35) and Du Pont (DD, -1.10% to $53.95), with these two stocks contributing -8 Dow points worth of downward pressure on the index. Volume traded was tilted in favour of the gainers by 284.6m shares to 84.1m.
The broader S&P500 added 3.19 points (0.26%), to end the session at 1225.31. Over at Times Square, the Nasdaq Composite added 19.6 points (0.95%), to close at 2090.21, while larger-cap technology issues fared better with the Nasdaq100 adding 24.62 points (1.62%), to end at 1545.2 points.
NYSE Volume was chunky, with 1.49 billion shares changing hands, while Nasdaq Volume was chunky, with 1.97 billion shares flitting around cyberspace along with all the other porn.
| Major Market Statistics | |||
| Index | Close | Gain(Loss) | % |
| Dow Jones Industrial Average | 10936.86 | -3.69 | -0.03% |
| S&P500 | 1225.31 | 3.19 | 0.26% |
| Nasdaq Composite | 2090.21 | 19.6 | 0.95% |
| Nasdaq100 | 1545.2 | 24.62 | 1.62% |
| NYSE Volume | 1.49bn | - | - |
| Nasdaq Volume | 1.97bn | - | - |
Bellwethers
My 9-stock "bellwethers" group rose by an average of 0.30% - it was pretty much a wash...
- General Electric (GE) +$0.01 (0.03%) to $36.13;
- Citigroup (C) +$0.07 (0.14%) to $48.47;
- Wal Mart (WMT) -$0.32 (0.6%) to $52.78;
- I.B.M. (IBM) -$0.77 (0.83%) to $91.60;
- Intel (INTC) +$0.43 (1.74%) to $25.11;
- Cisco Systems (CSCO) +$0.20 (1.11%) to $18.24;
- eBay (EBAY) +$0.14 (0.34%) to $41.89;
- Fannie Mae (FNM) -$0.50 (0.85%) to $58.00; and
- Freddie Mac (FRE) +$1.02 (1.59%) to $65.25.
Market Breadth & Internals
NYSE advancing Issues exceeded decliners by 1775 to 1525 for a single-day A/D reading of 250; and Nasdaq losers exceeded gainers by 1611 to 1550. The 10-day moving average of the A/D line fell to 444.6 on the NYSE, while the 10dma of the Nasdaq A/D fell to 12.9.
NYSE advancing volume exceeded volume in decliners by 881.5 to 584.1 million shares; Nasdaq advancing volume was greater than volume in decliners by 1492.4 to 446.5 million shares.
365 NYSE-listed stocks rose to new 52-week highs, and 14 posted fresh 52-week lows, while on the Nasdaq there were 171 stocks that hit new 52-week highs, and 47 which fell to fresh 52-week lows.
| Market Breadth Statistics | ||
| NYSE | Nasdaq | |
| Advancers | 1775 | 1550 |
| Decliners | 1525 | 1611 |
| Advancing Volume (m) | 881.52 | 1492.43 |
| Declining Volume (m) | 584.05 | 446.45 |
| New Highs | 365 | 171 |
| New Lows | 14 | 47 |
Market Sentiment
| Market Sentiment Statistics | |||
| Index | Close | Gain(Loss) | % |
| CBOE Volatility Index | 12.26 | 0.32 | 2.68% |
| CBOE Nasdaq Volatility Index | 17.73 | -0.4 | -2.21% |
| Equity Put-Call Ratio | 0.65 | 0.01 | 1.56% |
| 10-day PCR | 0.63 | 0.01 | 0.86% |
| SPX-VIX Ratio | 99.9 | -2.41 | -2.36% |
Bond Market Analysis
It's just as well that the short trade on the 30-year bond future was exited (with a nice fat profit) on Friday; bonds rose again last night with the 30-year gaining over a quarter-point. There will come a time to short this thing again, as it's pretty clear that the only thing that the US monetary authorities can do to try and stem the exit from USD-denominated foreign reserve holdings by foreign central banks, is to try and make the private sector interest-arbitrage trade more appealing. Any collapse in "carry" and both government and private holders of US-denominated assets will diversify away from USD, which would be catastrophic for the US economy.
Bonds rose at the long end, with the yield on the benchmark 30-year Treasury bond shedding 3.2 basis points to 4.618%. The 5-year note yield has been flirting with 4% for a week now, getting folks conditioned to that level; it still seems likely to me that the next leg in yields will be up.
| Treasury Yields | |||
| Index | Close | Gain(Loss) | % |
| UST 13wk (yld) | 2.677 | 0 | 0% |
| UST 2Y (yld) | 3.57 | 0.03 | 0.85% |
| UST 5Y (yld) | 3.974 | 0.018 | 0.46% |
| UST 10Y (yld) | 4.304 | -0.006 | -0.14% |
| UST 30Y (yld) | 4.618 | -0.032 | -0.69% |
The Banks Index gained 0.19 points (0.19%), ending the day at 101.61; within the index,
- MBNA Corp (KRB) +$0.30 (1.17%) to $26.05;
- Fifth Third Bancorp (FITB) +$0.50 (1.09%) to $46.38;
- Zions Bancorp (ZION) +$0.74 (1.07%) to $69.72;
- BB&T Corp (BBT) +$0.40 (1%) to $40.42; and
- Regions Financial (RF) +$0.23 (0.68%) to $33.93.
The Broker-dealer Index added 0.75 points (0.49%), to 152.82; the ticket clippers lined up as follows -
- Charles Schwab (SCH) +$0.16 (1.46%) to $11.09;
- Morgan Stanley (MWD) +$0.81 (1.39%) to $59.20;
- Goldman Sachs (GS) +$1.27 (1.14%) to $112.80;
- A G Edwards (AGE) +$0.47 (1.06%) to $44.79; and
- Jeffries Group (JEF) +$0.35 (0.88%) to $40.21.
The Philadelphia SOX (Semiconductor) index rose 8.16 points (1.88%), at 441.54
- Altera (ALTR) +$0.78 (3.82%) to $21.22;
- Xilinx (XLNX) +$1.04 (3.37%) to $31.92;
- Taiwan Semiconductors (TSM) +$0.29 (3.3%) to $9.09;
- Broadcom (BRCM) +$0.80 (2.56%) to $32.11; and
- Maxim Integrated (MXIM) +$1.04 (2.42%) to $44.05.
Gold & Silver Markets
Gold rose $0.50 (0.11%) to close at $435.60 per ounce. It dipped to its low ($433.30) just after the bond market opened, then rose quite sharply until midday - rising exactly three dollars an ounce from its low, to post its session high at $436.30 an ounce.
Gold Bugs Index slid 0.88 points (0.41%), to 215.66
- Meridian Gold (MDG) -$0.51 (2.74%) to $18.12;
- Freeport McMoran (FCX) -$0.83 (1.9%) to $42.90;
- Iamgold (IAG) -$0.13 (1.81%) to $7.05;
- Hecla Mining (HL) -$0.10 (1.77%) to $5.56; and
- Randgold Resources (GOLD) -$0.20 (1.47%) to $13.40.
Silver rose one cent (0.14%) to close at $7.37 per ounce. The Gold and Silver Index (XAU) lost 0.85 points (0.85%), at 98.95 points.
- Meridian Gold (MDG) -$0.51 (2.74%) to $18.12;
- Freeport McMoran (FCX) -$0.83 (1.9%) to $42.90;
- Placer Dome (PDG) -$0.31 (1.81%) to $16.83; and
- Barrick Gold (ABX) -$0.30 (1.18%) to $25.11.
| Precious Metals and Indices | |||
| Index | Close | Gain(Loss) | % |
| Gold | 435.60 | 0.50 | 0.11% |
| Silver | 7.37 | 0.01 | 0.14% |
| PHLX Gold and Silver Index | 98.95 | -0.85 | -0.85% |
| AMEX Gold BUGS Index | 215.66 | -0.88 | -0.41% |
Oil Market
Oil lost ground, shedding a penny per barrel, closing at $53.77 per barrel. Crude traded as low as $52.90 early in the session, but spent the rest of the session wiggling its way upwards. The intraday move took the April contract up over a dollar from its session low.
The Oil and Gas Index (XOI) lost 4.94 points (0.56%), ending the day at 884.19
- TotalFinaElf S.A. (TOT) -$1.29 (1.06%) to $120.40;
- Occidental Petroleum (OXY) -$0.77 (1.05%) to $72.88; and
- Sunoco (SUN) -$1.07 (1.03%) to $103.07.
The Oil service stocks (OSX) Index dipped 1.1 points (0.76%), closing at 144.16
- Halliburton (HAL) -$1.03 (2.3%) to $43.77;
- Global Industries (GLBL) -$0.23 (2.29%) to $9.82; and
- Nabors Industries (NBR) -$1.18 (1.98%) to $58.40.
| Energy Complex | |||
| Index | Close | Gain(Loss) | % |
| Reuters CRB | 309.37 | 0.21 | 0.07% |
| Crude Oil Light Sweet | 53.77 | -0.01 | -0.02% |
| Heating Oil | 1.4831 | 0 | -0.02% |
| Natural Gas | 6.72 | -0.02 | -0.36% |
| Unleaded Gas | 1.504 | 0 | -0.32% |
| AMEX Oil Index | 884.19 | -4.94 | -0.56% |
| Oil Service Index | 144.16 | -1.1 | -0.76% |
Currency Markets
| Currency Prices | |||
| Index | Close | Gain(Loss) | % |
| US Dollar Index | 82.74 | 0.22 | 0.27% |
| Euro | 1.3216 | -0.0021 | -0.16% |
| Yen | 105.07 | 0.32 | 0.31% |
| Sterling | 1.9145 | -0.0079 | -0.41% |
| Australian Dollar | 0.7915 | 0.0009 | 0.11% |
| Swiss Franc | 1.174 | 0.0054 | 0.46% |
| Canadian Dollar | 0.8143 | 0.0027 | 0.33% |
